Leap second: Internet giants atwitter as world to catch up with clocks

Opinion is split over a decision by the International Earth Rotation Service to add another leap second this summer. Although technology regularly demands more precise time measurements, these adjustments may adversely affect computer networks.

Some of the internet’s major resources – like Reddit, Linkedin,
Foursquare, and others – are raising the alarm that their
services might experience crippling problems, as they did in
2012, the last time a leap second was added.

Officials at the international body have announced that we need
to sync up to the Earth’s rotation again or, more precisely, sync
our atomic clocks to it. The devices are the best thing we have
to measure time; they are capable of perceiving changes at
quadrillionths of a second.

However, the way the Earth rotates on its axis is also changing
and adjustments need to be made across the board: the idea that
one spin equals one day is shifting – the passage is slowing down
by two millionths of a second every day.

Atomic clocks and the Earth’s shifting spin time must also be
reconciled regularly. Without that realignment, we are
irretrievably losing two thousandth of a second each day.

We have been making these slight alterations since 1975, 25 times
so far. However, the practice of adding leap seconds was hardly
of interest to anyone before computers came around.

However, the upcoming June 30 change, to take place at 23:59:59,
is sparking fears that many computer systems might get confused
when they register a sixtieth second, instead of rolling over to
a new hour after 59. Other computers have a tendency to show the
fifty-ninth second twice. Both cases are prone to cause problems
– power outages are especially feared.

One clever way of eschewing this was invented by Google, who
calls its solution “the smear-around.” Its computers,
over large periods of time, accumulate miniscule delays in
standard systems updates, until the next changeover takes place.
That way their systems never know a leap second has been added
and carry on functioning normally.

One solution increasingly proposed today is to completely depart
from leap seconds altogether. Calls for revising the Universal
Coordinated Time (UTC) have been heard in many international
organizations. The issue has been hotly contested at the
International Communication Union (ITU), which is responsible for
defining the UTC. Some countries want to end leap seconds, while
others believe there’s no need. Yet others believe we should do
leap minutes – but this is usually met with skepticism.

An upcoming conference on the matter, the World
Radiocommunication Conference in 2015, will set the record
straight, basing its decision on ITU findings.